In the last five years, data visualization has transformed (& continues to transform) the construction industry. As with other industries, an obstacle in construction is that much of the data collected can’t contribute to the big picture. The big picture view is needed for helpful, profitable analytics & information. The construction industry is responsible for some of the biggest and most expensive projects & buildings on Earth! Huge amounts of resources means huge volumes of data. I put together quotes, statistics, information from 9DOTS & articles from Construction Global & Forbes to really explain how advantageous data visualization is for the construction industry in 2018. We will start with this from Bernard Marr, best-selling author of Data Strategy.

Number crunching has always been a big part of construction. A commonly heard phrase is that construction companies are “accounting companies which happen to erect buildings. [The construction industry] is an industry where 35% of costs are accounted for by material waste and remedial work. Counting the cost of every screw could be the difference between delivering on budget and bankrupting an organization.

With Data visualization, you are given a picture where owners & builders together can see the difference in price between changes in plan, costs in the future, etc. The owner can see the dollars tied to a project in real time. “Every element in the design is tied to cost estimate. It is completely integrated so the solution changes visually, on the fly,” says John Jacobs, CIO of JE DUNN Construction Group to Forbes.

These changes in on the fly & real time analytics create better relationships with all parties, offer answers at super speed and most importantly, improving reliability and effectiveness.

In their article on constructionglobal.com, Construction Global says, “the powerful pieces of data that drive a construction company’s day-to-day like: sales data, profit, equipment up time, machinery down time, personnel productivity, asset life cycles, seasonal surges and dips need to be monitored in order to speed up a design process & contribute to waste saving.”

“Material waste accounts for approximately 25% of a project’s cost, and rework adds an estimated 10%.”

Today, the tools available for architects, engineers and construction companies put an end to the waste of materials, time & money.

As often said in the 9DOTS blog, efficiency is the key to competitive advantage, success and a plush bottom line. Data visualization puts EVERYONE involved in the project together. It gives each person the ability to see the numbers in real time and discuss them. This reduces risk and offering a higher reward. “By 2030, the worldwide market for construction services is expected to grow by 85% to $15.5 trillion,” adds Marr, author of Data Strategy. This can create challenges for the construction organizations that do not have their own Data Visualization software. Insight into your business is the KEY to the future of the construction industry & 9DOTS is willing to help every organization embrace insight & data analytics in order to put the end to wasting time, money & materials.